


Harold finds his purple crayon

by Karios



Category: Person of Interest (TV)
Genre: Character Study, Gen, Introspection, Pre-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-04
Updated: 2019-09-04
Packaged: 2020-10-06 18:10:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 400
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20511299
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Karios/pseuds/Karios
Summary: How Harold chose John.





	Harold finds his purple crayon

**Author's Note:**

  * For [ArgylePirateWD](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ArgylePirateWD/gifts).

> I know this isn't really related to any of your prompts but I had Harold and purple and this reference kept begging to be made.
> 
> Thanks to Scytale for helping me find a much better ending.

He read the books when he was little, about another little boy with his name. A boy who took what he had available, a little bit of technology and knowledge and redrew the world, literally.

If that Harold and his purple crayon could set the world to rights in the space between bedtime and falling asleep, then certainly this Harold could manage to do something, somehow with the endless stream of data from the Machine. The way he should have been doing from the beginning.

But deciding to do something and taking action were worlds apart. It would be more complicated than a children's book, he knew. For one thing, he was no adventurer. It was not now, nor had it ever been, his desire to charge into the fray as it were. For that, he would need a partner. 

Someone with the necessary talents: good enough in a fight to protect and defend; courageous or reckless enough to be unafraid of the inherent danger; clever and calculating enough to help him work the puzzle of each number. Identifying people who fit those criteria was easy, quantitative.

Most important of all though, was finding someone who knew the price of hard-earned loneliness. Harold needed a partner who ached with the pain of loss so acutely that they would never make the mistake Harold had made. His partner had to understand, as Harold did now, that every single life lost was its own tragedy; every preventable death worth what it might cost them to prevent it. That required digging, studying, piecing together a narrative.

Applying that filter led him to one man. One man alone and adrift and angry. John Reese: a living ghost in need of a purpose. He wouldn't see irrelevant data. John would see people in need of his protection. John was perfect. 

Even if somehow, Harold was wrong and this personal crusade blew up in his face, Harold could save John. That's what this was about, right? Rescuing individuals, even from themselves.

With the right man in mind, all that was left was to make an introduction. He would watch and wait for John to end up in trouble. Harold would solve that trouble and then offer John the job. Not in exchange, but a free choice.

It wouldn't be long. John was the sort of man that trouble found.

Harold had the data to prove it.

**Author's Note:**

> For anyone who has never seen or read Harold and the Purple Crayon, here's a vid version of the original book, just under five minutes.  
https://youtu.be/ZVaOOgWyvJM


End file.
